


Fathers and Daughters

by Leloi



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Continuation, Dreams, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Grandmotherly Advice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 21:14:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5513546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leloi/pseuds/Leloi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey stared at the man before her… A myth made flesh.  He was much older than she imagined.  Had she ever imagined him before now?  His appearance was confusing… Like she should remember him and yet… And yet she couldn’t.  Not yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fathers and Daughters

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... Usually I write Sherlock or Star Trek slash fics. But yesterday I saw Force Awakens. So I'm working out feels (so many feels). This is my little head canon. And has anyone else noticed the striking resemblance between Natalie Portman and Daisy Ridley?

Rey stared at the man before her… A myth made flesh. He was much older than she imagined. Had she ever imagined him before now? His appearance was confusing… Like she should remember him and yet… And yet she couldn’t. Not yet. A tender word, warm blue eyes crinkled around the edges, looking at her in fondness. Had it ever occurred to her that her that this man even had a name and that the myth and the parent could be one in the same? No name… Never a name. She only knew him by one word. “Father?”

The myth flinched, pain filling his eyes. “You have come.”

The light saber was heavy in her hand and she dropped her arm to let it rest at her side. “I came for Luke Skywalker and I find… You.”

“Yes.” Her father replied. “You found me. You found your way to Leia and to R2 and they sent you here.”

Tears filled Rey’s eyes as she nodded. Her memories were confusing together. Life before Jakku, life after Jakku. A warm, gentle teacher and parent who cared for her and yet the cold reality of being abandoned to fend for herself. “Why haven’t you come for me? You left me!”

“I didn’t…” Luke took a step towards her and then stopped. “I didn’t mean to leave you. You were so young. I couldn’t let him find you and hurt you the way he hurt the others.” Luke made a face as he reflected on his memories. “I couldn’t lose you too.” Taking a deep breath, he indicated the path she had just climbed. “Would you like to come inside? We can talk.”

Rey frowned and glared at where his brown robe hovered over the ground. Betrayed and hurt, she nodded silently.

Luke stepped closer and waited for her to turn around. They returned down the path she had climbed until they reached the stone dwelling. “I have soup. It’s warm and comforting. You used to like my soup.” And with that he entered the dwelling.

Rey followed and found herself in the small shelter built of stone. A candle on the table and a fire in the fireplace lit the room. There were two chairs which stumped her. Wasn’t he alone?

Luke seemed to notice her glance at the furniture. “I always hoped that one day you would come. That is your chair. Sit.” And with that he ladled out the soup for her in a second bowl.

Rey’s eyes scanned the dim room, taking in the pairs of necessities. Two bowls, two chairs, two cups, two spoons… “Were you waiting for me?”

Luke sat down at the table, pulling back his robe’s sleeves so his arms were free. “I knew you were alive. I could feel you the way I feel the rest of our family.”

“I only met BB8 and Finn by chance. Without them I never would have left Jakku.”

“Nothing is by chance.” Luke gave her a fond smile. “When I was a boy it seemed like chance set me out to find my destiny. If I had not been the one to find R2 and 3PO who would have? Would that someone have taken R2 to Ben? Would I have been involved at all? R2 and 3PO came to me because I was meant to find them. BB8 and Finn found you because they were meant to find you. How often does a Stormtrooper have a change of heart? I can feel the Force in him.”

“But you weren’t there!” Rey insisted. “You can’t know that!”

Luke gave her a tired, sad look. “I know. He used my light saber. He could not be turned. He could not be forced to kill. In another life he could have been a Jedi.”

Rey looked at the weapon resting on her side in the dim light. “Maz Kanata had your light saber.”

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “It was my father’s before me. And now it’s yours.”

“I can’t take it!” Rey insisted, standing up from the table, nearly knocking over her soup.

“You are not taking it. I am giving it to you. It is mine to give… To you.”

“But I’m not a Jedi!” Rey pointed out.

“Rey…” It was the first time he spoke her name. It was spoken with such tenderness that the girl immediately calmed down and sat down again. Luke kept his eyes on her. “You are my daughter. It is your birthright.”

Slowly Rey shook her head. “But I don’t want it. Kylo Ren said it was his because it belonged to his grandfather.”

“Darth Vader the Sith Lord killed Anakin Skywalker the man.” Luke stated. “The grandfather he claims is Vader, not Anakin. You have Anakin’s light saber. It was given to me and I give it to you. Your cousin cannot claim it.”

“I barely remember him… I barely remember you. I don’t remember his parents. I don’t remember my mother. I can’t remember anything before… Before Jakku.”

“You were very young.” Luke answered with sadness in his eyes. 

“All I remember… Is being told to wait. Someday my family would come back for me. But they never came. I waited years and they never came.” Tears filled her eyes and she looked away at the fireplace. “I waited, father.”

The Jedi Master moved to wrap his arms around her, holding her close. “I’m here now.”

“You smell the same…” Rey sobbed against the old, brown robes. “Like a home I can barely remember.” The girl clung tighter, flashes of memories sparking from the connection. “Mother humming… Mother dying. Your soup… You tried so hard to take care of me. Aunt Leia and my cousin Ben. Named for Ben Kenobi. He was always so strong and clever. I idolized him. You taught him to use the Force and I watched. I was too young. One day… One day you will teach me. You promised me. ‘One day, youngling, I will teach you,’ you said that to me. I knew one day I will be a Jedi Knight like my father and my cousin. But then one day you never came home. You left with R2 and the others and you never came back.” Startled, Rey pushed away from Luke’s embrace. “I felt them die! I felt the betrayal and the pain in my chest… Right here!” Her hand patted her chest. “And then I was alone. I was taken away and they sent me to Jakku where I could never be found. Those that hurt you and the others could never find me if I was hiding on Jakku! I was told to forget. Forget myself so I could never be found by those who would harm me.”

Luke reached out and placed his hand on her cheek, wiping tears away with his thumb. “I am so sorry.”

“I dreamed of this place. Without my memories all I knew was a land of sand and yet I dreamed of ocean.”

Luke wrapped his arms around her again, resting his chin on the top of her head as he often did when she was still very small. “I will keep my promise to teach you.”

“What if I don’t want to be a Jedi Knight anymore?”

“The Force is strong within you, youngling. You have to learn to control it or else it can be made to serve the Dark Side.”

“And you won’t leave again?”

Luke kissed her forehead. “Not if I can help it. And even then a Jedi Master has ways to continue after their death.”

Rey stared up at him, unsure. 

At that moment there was a sound at the door and a familiar call of a Wookie.

Luke smiled and looked to the door. “Our friends are here. Shall we go let them in?” There was amusement in his eyes that made him look decades younger.

Rey was left to watch as her father opened the shelter’s entrance to R2D2 and Chewbacca. 

Later that night Rey lay on a mattress in a room that had been prepared for her. It was dark with only the sound of the wind and the ocean for company. In the main room Chewbacca and R2 sat up with her father, catching up on old times. The Wookie had plans to return to the Resistance and Leia, leaving Rey and R2 with Luke. The party had taken a sad turn with news of Han Solo’s death. The Wookie was still grieving for his companion and friend. When it got late Rey was directed to her room as the friends stayed up and continued to reminisce. Eventually she fell asleep.

And she dreamed.

Rey was young, barely old enough to walk. Her uncertain, baby steps carried her across the room to a man in brown robes. The man was her father. Chubby baby hands reached for him.

Father was staring off into the distance, pain on his face. But then he happened to catch a glimpse of Rey. Immediately his face softened and he smiled, reaching out his own hands to her. 

Rey nearly fell, caught by his strong hands… One mechanical and the other soft. She was pulled into his lap and she sat, curled up against him as he rocked with her, face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her. Nearby was her doll dressed in an orange flight suit and she reached out as it floated towards them.

Father caught the doll in mid-air and gave it to Rey as he held her and the doll tighter. 

Rey closed her eyes, feeling content and safe.

“The child is already strong with the Force.” A male voice, not her father’s, stated. 

“Careful you must be.” Another voice responded. 

“She is still very young.” Father told the voices. Rey could never see who spoke, but she could hear them and father often spoke to them. There were three voices. The two that talked the most were called “Ben” and “Master Yoda.”

“Soon the training must begin. Strong with the Force your child will be.”

“This is why Jedi did not marry or have families.” Ben said.

Father sighed and held Rey tighter. 

“Don’t listen to them, Luke. They seem to forget that if I had not married you would not be here.” It was the voice that rarely spoke. Father called him “father.”

Father allowed a chuckle to escape as he readjusted his hold on Rey and her doll. “She is still very young. She can barely walk. How can you expect her to swing a light saber?”

“She can use the Force to call her doll.” Ben’s voice answered. “And she can hear us.”

Father looked down at Rey with a smile on his face as he lightly touched her cheek. “Can you hear them, youngling?”

“Respond if you can, child.” Master Yoda called out.

Rey looked in the direction his voice came from. But she did not see anyone. Father patted her cheek and adjusted his hold of her.

“They child is ready to begin the very basic training.” Ben said. “She must learn to control it until she’s old enough to learn how to use it.”

The dream changed. And Rey looked around, trying to place where or when she was. She was at home… Her old home. It was the home she lived in with father before she was taken to Jakku.

Rey stood in the doorway of her house, watching her father leave with R2. “I have a bad feeling about this.” 

Father paused in his stride and looked back at her, one eyebrow up in query. “What is wrong, youngling?” 

Rey shook her head, unable to express the sudden panic she was feeling. Her eyes scanned the darkening clouds. It was going to rain today. “I have a bad feeling, father.”

Father returned to her and knelt to be at her level. Taking her hands in his soft hand he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be with you… Always.”

Mutely she nodded and watched as he stood back up again to leave with R2. 

Older Rey wanted to scream out, “don’t go!” but instead she watched as her father left their home to go work with his students. It was the last time she would ever see him.

A beautiful woman approached and smiled at Rey. She is not much older than the Rey. Long curly hair cascaded down her back and a flowing gown makes her look regal. “Hello, Rey.”

“Who are you?” Rey asked in confusion. The woman looked strangely familiar.

“I am Padme.” The woman replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You are dreaming.”

“I knew that.” Rey answered, watching as the location shifted to someplace green and lush. “I have never been here.”

“Probably not. This is my home planet of Naboo.” Padme held her arm out to Rey. “Will you walk with me, Rey?”

“I was…” Rey looked back at the house that had been transported along with them. “I was waiting for father to return.” 

“You will see him when you wake up. For now will you walk with me?” Padme asked again.

Rey took the beautiful woman’s hand. “You seem familiar. Have I ever met you?”

“No…” Padme answered as she guided Rey along. “I died a long time ago. My heart was broken and I died giving birth to my children.”

“Who are you?” Rey asked again.

“I am your paternal grandmother.” Padme replied. “I am not like you. I am not sensitive to the Force. Your grandfather, Anakin, loved me and then he was seduced by the Dark Side. He slaughtered innocents. When I died he fell and became Darth Vader.”

“My cousin wishes to follow in his footsteps.” Rey breathed, staring at the green and blue scenery. 

Padme stopped and took both of Rey’s hands, looking into her hazel eyes with deep brown, sad eyes. “Anakin was supposed to bring balance to the Force. And then it was Luke… And now you.”

“But why?” Rey whispered.

“Because that is your destiny.” Padme gave her a sad smile. Reaching out she touched Rey’s cheek. “We look alike.”

Rey turned her face away, flustered at the beautiful woman’s words. “You’re joking…”

“When I was queen I had body guards who looked like me to protect me.” Padme was amused for a moment before her eyes darkened into sadness once again. “Take care of each other. Love, Rey.” Leaning forward, she kissed Rey’s forehead.

And then Rey was awake. The room was still dark but there was weak light coming in through the cracks. Getting up, she went to the main room and found Chewbacca sitting at the table. “Good morning.”

The Wookie greeted her and so did the droid in the corner of the room. 

“You’re going back today?”

Chewbacca confirmed.

“Where is my father?” 

R2 sat up and gave his answer in chirps and beeps, telling her he was up the path. 

“I’ll be back to see you off…” Rey patted the Wookie’s arm as she left the shelter. It never struck her as odd that she could understand droids. It seemed she learned it from R2 when she was still very young. Her father could understand R2 too. Before her memories came back she had never questioned why she could understand them. As she worked her way up the path her mind wandered to the beautiful and yet sad Padme and her words. “Love.” The word rolled around in her mind as she made the final ascent to the place she had found her father the evening before. 

“Good morning, youngling.” Luke greeted as he stared at the ocean.

“Morning, father.” Rey answered.

Luke turned around to regard her with his blue eyes. 

Rey stared down at the ground near the hem of his robe. “I have decided to stay… And train to be a Jedi like my father before me.”

“I am pleased.” Luke gave her a pained smile… A bit like his mother’s. “What made you change your mind?”

Rey thought about the beautiful woman. “A queen of a place called Naboo.”

Luke reflected on that answer for a time before nodding in agreement. “You’ve seen mother. I have never known her. What is she like?”

Rey closed the distance between them and took his soft hand. “Beautiful… And yet sad. She said that we need each other.”

“We do.” Luke agreed. “Come. There is much to learn.”

“I am ready, father.”

And so it began.

\--Fin

**Author's Note:**

> I'm half tempted to do something based on "When Marnie Was There" using Padme and Rey. But I have too much Spirk and JohnLock to write!


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